Destiny - A light in the Darkness
by TheCrystalBlood
Summary: For a very long time the world was held in a tight grasp of fear and pain. But one day a lonely Ghost found something in the remains of Old-Russia. Something that could be called a small candle. Only time will tell if the candle will grow into a storming fire or get stomped out.


**Destiny – A light in the Dark**

_**A/N:**_** W****elcome, dear reader. My name's Crystal. I want to present a story to you that is worth the effort. But before that, I want to fill you in. To say that the original story was disapointing would be one of the biggest understatements ever made. Especially for someone like me who was hyped for this game since it's first announcement back at E3 2013. I was so unhappy with it, that I started making shit up and work out a real story. And the slipup on readit was also a big inspiration for me. But the real reason I'm really uploading this here is feedback. There are great authors out here and else where and I want to learn from them. And foremostly, from you. Critique is an undervalued material to grow from. So if you have the time to tell me your thoughts on this thing down in the reviews section, I would highly apreciate it. But just before we start, my mother tongue is not english. So if you see any misspelled words or grammar mistakes please let me know. Now without any further ado, enjoy the story!**

Dink was searching and searching. The last couple of days, he strifed through the devastated reamains of Old Russia. He had looked at so many places, hoping to finally find a flame that hasn't been stomped out already. But the only things he found were old corpses, crippled by fate and time. But he kept looking, never gave up. Dink wasn't a normal person, he was a Ghost. A machine born by a dying, fallen star which once illuminated the Earth like a sun.

This time has passed long ago. Now, everything has collapsed. And the Darkness has taken over the fields of the blue planet and the starsystem. What exactly caused this downfall was unknown to Dink. He didn't ask any questions. He just followed orders. Look for possible survivors and bring them back.

Only piles of bones were found by Dink, covered by dust and sand. This side of the Earth was an unbelievebly sight of havoc. Nothing was left untouched by the Darkness. Nothing, but this one frequency. This one last signal of life that brought him here. There was no way that he would stop searching until he found his target. And fortunately it didn't take much longer than a couple of minutes to find the source of his hope. A body.

It was half buried under small parts of debris made out of metal and wood. He activated his lightburner. Clearing his way to the last spark of hope. After the debris was taken care of, he investigated the body.

It was not alien. But not human either. A creature forged in light and darkness. But it was alive, barely. Shortly Dink started his healing process. The destiny of every Ghost was to bring back a survivor. A warrior. A Guardian. And he was finally fulfilling his.

The body regenarated slowly. More and more details were identifiable. An Awoken was found by him. That was a rarity. And even more rare was a female Awoken. But here he was, digging out the flame. Wounds sealed, cells regenarated. She will take her first breath after a long time soon. And she will not burn out.

Healing the spark excited the Ghost. He finally did it. After the long process, the woman was healed and about to wake up. Dink watched closely when her eyeleads moved.

The woman opened her eyes. She had a blurred vision but it focused as her eyes got used to the lighting, mainly coming from the sun shining through the clouds in the sky. It was starting to set. She scanned the area she was in. Dink could see, how unfamiliar the surroundings appeared to her. The rusted cars and lands around us and the border came into her view. Then she noticed Dink. She first thought she was just imagining things. But then he started to talk.

"Uh, hi.", was the simple atempt to begin a conversation with her. Instead of a reply, he got a scream as an answer and she started to crawl away from him. Obviously scared. He imediately felt guilty for his action. Something else than "hi" would have been a better way to explain to her what is going on. So he decided to do just that – Explain.

"Calm down. I won't hurt you. I'm sorry if I scared you but let me explain! You almost died and I saved you so you owe me, please listen!", her back hit the door of a rusty old car. She looked up at him with her glowing blue eyes. Her hair was dirty as well as her clothes. She wore bare bones battle gear. That showed that she came here to fight.

The woman didn't stop shaking as the Ghost flew up to her face. Directly in front of her, he twisted and turned to calm her down. She took deep breaths to get her lungs back under control. Her heart was beating fast and her body shook.

"Please calm down. I'm just a harmless Ghost, worrys not needed. I know you have a ton of questions, but they can wait for later. You just need to know, that we're in Old Russia and that there are Fallen around this area. So we should probably get moving. Just follow me!", he flew a bit more up and left her some space. The awoken finally got her breathing under control and just nodded. She was still scared but she didn't really have a choice at that moment. She didn't know anything at that point and sonebody wanted to help her.

So she simply got up, slowly. Her legs got used to carrying her around again and she followed the Ghost through the open fields of Old Russia, and into the Border. Dink remembered that there still was a transport vehicle that was damaged, but still usable. So he looked out for the woman. She was still looking around and taking her environment in. A bunch of ravens were sitting on top of the rusted cars on their way. When they moved closer, the birds took off into the sky. The awoken followed them with her eyes as they moved out of there. Her brain was still adjusting to the sudden changes she must have felt. But she didn't stop moving.

Dink showed her the entrance. Inside it was dark, but you could still navigate through. Crawling, running and falling could be heard in a distance. The Fallen already had entered the construction. So he needed to warn the woman.

"Okay, don't worry. As long as we keep quiet they will not find us...I hope. But we should be able to sneak past them fast and easy. Just stay close to me and everything will be fine.", she nodded her head and followed her orders. Dink led them deeper into the complex, the light was getting thinner and thinner. Soon his little flashlight ,which was his eye, couldn't help him anymore.

"Alright, I know we should stay hidden at all costs but without proper light we'll run in this maze for ever! So just wait here while I look for some sticks to rub together. And if you hear something coming your way, stay where you are. Those Fallen are surely more afraid of you than you of them. Hehehe...if we're lucky, of course. And I don't feel like looking for you a second time after all this searching I've been through those last couple of days." Before the woman could say anything back, the lights were already turned on. Over all halls in this facility, light streamed in. And with that, a group of Fallen became visible.

"Why was I expecting this? Doesn't matter, run!", Dink returned to the now scared woman. The Fallen and them were separated by an abyss in the area. Her brain finished processing all the new information and she started running along the path. They reached a half open gate. Dink flew under it and she crawled through. Behind it, a gun was leaning against something that resembled an old table that was turned to the side so it could be used as cover. But the gun seemed ancient to Dink. It was definetly pre-golden age. But it would do.

"There is a weapon! Pick it up!", she didn't hesitate and picked up the rifle. It was an assault rifle, russian design. The awoken inspected the weapon and spoke her first words since her awakening.

"How do you use this thing?", she asked. Dink seemed like hit by a truck. Ghosts weren't equipped with any kind of weapons. And now that there thankfully was waiting a weapon for them, she couldn't use it.

"Uh...well, you aim the end of that thing at an enemy and pull the trigger. Simple as that. So you just need to shoot all of those stupid Fallen, don't get hit yourself and find a ship to get us both out of here. No pressure.", an explosion could be heard behind them and the woman shuddered.

Out of reflex she continued to run. The way in front of her, led to a series of tight corridors. She tried to keep her gun ready, and she held it in a proffesionel way. She wasn't sure why she knew how to hold something like an assault rifle correctly but it didn't matter at that moment. Suddenly, a fallen Dreg dropped down from the ceiling. Her hands moved automaticly. A precise shot in the head quickly ended his life. After his dead body hit the ground, her hands started to shake lightly.

"How did I do this?", she mumbled. Dink was very surprised as well, pleasantly of course. He had to catch up with her when she had started running, but now he could feel a bit safer behind her.

"Seems like your combat reflexes started kicking in. You should take advantage of that, but don't take risks. I'll help you. I will shout out their positions and you'll take them down. Deal? No is the wrong answer, by the way.", his jokes appeared inapropiate for the awoken. But time was scarce and she had to hurry up. This damn ship should be around somewhere in that complex. Dink already started running scans to find the pile of metal. Dink flew ahead and she followed. As they came to the bridge across the abyss they were looking at moments ago, Fallen Dregs and Shanks came into their view. She dodged in cover just in time. Enemy projectiles flew past her ears and she alsmost lost her composure, but she tensed her jaw and forcefully shut her eyes. One second later she opened her eyes again and ducked out of cover and shot precisely into the heads of the Dregs and even hit the cores of the shanks.

When the magazine was empty, all enemies were killed. The woman was shocked about her own actions, but didn't complain of course. She got out of cover completely and continued to run. Dink folowed her quickly and started directing her into the right places.

"I've found it! It's just outside of this building in a nearby shat. We can reach it if we hurry up. You're doing good. Don't leave me hanging here, we're almost out." his voice was surprisingly calm. But the woman could see through his efforts and knew that he was scared.

They came to some stairs that guided them downwards. Suddenly a Fallen Vandal with two swords in his hands jumped down from the ceiling and tried to cut into the awoken. But her reflexes were quick to save her once more. She threw her left hand forward and opened her palm. A wave of light came out of it and pushed the creature away. So hard that it slammed into the wall behind it. It's back was probably broken and the back of his head was bleeding.

The awoken immediately checked her palm and asked herself what happened.

"What the..? Was that me?", Dink was just as surprised as she was but also releived. She definitely knew how to protect herself well. That was a huge plus on their side. He was good at avoiding those things before, but now that he had to take care of a woman who couldn't fly and hide in little ringes like he could was a problem he wasn't able to handle alone. But that problem should have taken care of itself now.

"I don't know and I don't really care to be honest. We shouldn't waste anytime, there are still fallen around us. The ship is still near us. Just continue to follow me and keep shooting them in their ugly faces. We should be fine like that.", she reloaded the assault rifle and they ran down the rest of the staircase.

They arrived in a long and open hallway. Dink lighted them the way and thankfully no Fallen were there to open fire on them. Soon he spotted a dusty crate in a corner of the room and informed the lady about it.

"Hey, there is a little present box there. We should check it out if it has anything useful in it.", she did as he said and found a shotgun inside of it. The Peacemaker 12, an old american designed buckshot pump action beauty. She put it in the holster on her back and they moved on. Finally they found the exit of the complex and now stood in a rocketyard. There were many smaller buildings and garages littered across the area. But fortunately Dink knew exactly where they needed to go.

"Okay, the wreck is in the garage 537 metres north-west from our current position. Or better said, almost right infront of our noses. Lady Luck felt generous again, I hope she won't leave us until we're back in the tower.", the woman looked at him with a dumbstuck facial expression.

"What are you talking about?", he turned back to her and did something with his small body that would have been a raise of the eyebrows.

"Uhhm, I will explain everything, okay almost everything, on the flight home. I promise. So come on.", he flew with his full speed to their destination and she followed him with a frown. She would get her answeres soon.

But suddendly the ground started to shake, both stopped. A look in the sky; Dropship coming in! Dink started moving again and flew as fast as possible inside the garage. The awoken followed. There it was, the wreck of an old shuttle of arcadian class. Dink already started repairing it with his light unit.

"Finally! If that thing won't work, I will curse the day Arcadia class was invented!", the Ghost was francticly putting the old piece of metal together with lightning speed. The woman kept her eye on the entrance. But the noises were coming from different directions. She thought something was coming from the inside of the wall. Was it paranoia or a real threat. She was not sure. The Dropship was also coming nearer by the second. Some troops jumped out and looked for their targets. They scanned the area; dirt, rocks and ruins. The usual. Noises of burnig and sudden blazing of light caught their attention.

"Can you hurry a bit, little light...they are closing in!", she already aimed her gun again at the front door and tried to keep it steady. But her nerves were uneasy and nervousness was taking a toll on her.

"No, I purposefully delay the repair progress so we can play with our little four-armed frineds, you know.", she shaked her head and ignored the sarcastic comment. Soon they would step through the damn doorway and open fire once more. Thankfully, it didn't have to come to that.

"Thank the traveler, yes! The door control is fixed, you can come in if you like.", the mentioned doors swung open and the awoken jumped right in. Fallen Vandals and Dregs were extremely close now and almost through the entrance.

"Start this damn thing and get us out of here!", panic was slowly starting to take her over. This noise in the wall turned out to be a creature that seemed to resemble a Vandal. But it was much bigger.

"How can I say no, when you ask so nicely. Next stop: The Tower.", the doors closed and the engines fired up. The woman took a deep breath and calmed her nerves. But she soon held on to something as the acceleration cought her off guard. She almost lost her balance, but stood tall through the odds.

"Oh yeah, almost forgot. Better hold on to something.", she started wondering if he was clumsy, or doing it on purpose. Either way, maybe she wouldn't have to deal with it any longer. But one thing was clear: She wanted some freaking answeres.


End file.
